


fortune's favorites

by tanyart



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Tricked Into Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 09:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanyart/pseuds/tanyart
Summary: Shiro-4 gets roped into a bad plan with a notorious duo.





	fortune's favorites

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REO!!

The Fallen Walker’s still spitting out sparks as Shiro sits on top of its busted head and deliberates which parts he should scavenge for his newest project. The barrier tech is tempting, but so are the minigun barrels. He can _technically _take both but that means more junk in the Vault and he’s gotten enough of a hoard as it is before he’ll have cough up the extra Vault space fees.

Below him, a lesser decision awaits his answer. A Hunter clears his throat, polite, and a second Hunter — an Exo like Shiro — hops up next to him. His light-footed landing barely shakes the Walker.

“So buddy, whaddya say?”

Shiro peers up at him, notes the infringement of his personal space, and holds his gaze. “Yeah, no. Not interested. Your plan sounds stupid.”

He goes back to scrapping the Walker. Barrier tech it is. That way, maybe he can zone out other Hunters from bothering him. He can probably get it to work like a Titan’s ward, maybe even better. And judging from how the other two Hunters are just standing there, watching, he figures neither of them are interested in Walker parts. Seems like they’re more interested in _him _as loot, and Shiro doesn’t much like that.

“Woah, woah, no need to get rude,” says the chatty Hunter. “Don’t you wanna know what’s in it for you?”

Shiro pulls a circuit board free and tosses it. The Walker stops sparking and shudders. It causes the Exo Hunter to adjust his footing, almost losing his balance. Shiro hides his disappointment with a shrug and decides to answer the rhetorical question, on the off chance it’d annoy the Hunter into leaving him alone.

“Mid-tier Fallen tech. Couple of scorch cannons. ‘Round sixty kigs of spinmetal. Glimmer, possibly up to three thousand each, if we split three ways,” he says. “And… I guess Vanguard good boy points for clearing out an ancillary Devils’ nest.”

The other Hunter on the ground laughs, soft and quiet, in contrast to his louder friend.

“Ohh, he’s good,” Ground-Hunter says. He’s got a helmet on, but his voice doesn’t have the modulated crackle of an Exo or the smooth vibrance of an Awoken. Shiro fixes him to be a human — and he can take a guess as to _which_ human.

“Y’ain’t wrong, Shiro, but you’re leaving out the best loot of all,” hums the other Hunter, singsong.

Shiro’s mouth core flickers. “What? Is there a bounty I don’t know -”

“It’s fame!” the Hunter interrupts with a grand sweep of his arms. “Bragging rights! You know, a killer story to tell the baby Lights back at the Tower. Get their jaws dropping and eyes goin’ real wide. Hooboy, that never gets old!”

Shiro stares at him. He can’t believe he’s letting this knucklehead waste his time. “What’s your name again?”

“Cayde-6, c’mon. I must’ve mentioned this a million times.”

Shiro leans back, more to loosen up his frame before he takes off. “Cayde? Then I definitely don’t want anything to do with you, or…” he gets on his feet, nodding to the Hunter on the ground, “Andal, no offense. I know you used to run with Tallulah’s crew.”

He guesses right. Andal tips his head to the side in acknowledgement and crosses his arms, though he leans up against one of the Walker’s legs like he’s amused. “Give it up, Cayde. He ain’t interested. We’ll find someone else.”

Shiro can’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah. Good luck trying to find someone.”

The laugh turns out to be a mistake. He should’ve said nothing, or at least lose the sarcastic edge. Both Cayde and Andal’s heads turn towards him.

“Hey now, what’s with the attitude?” Cayde asks, throwing an arm around Shiro’s shoulders.

Luckily, Shiro doesn’t mind the closeness. He’s not prickly enough to start a tantrum just because another Hunter decides to get all touchy and threatening. Besides, it keeps them within stabbing reach.

“Your plan sucks,” Shiro says flatly. “Storm a Devils’ nest with a fireteam of three? What a joke.”

“A joke?” Andal repeats, pushing off the Walker’s leg. He stares up at Shiro, body language looking real peeved this time, none of that feigned nonchalance. “So what’s funny about it?”

“It’s a tactical disaster,” Shiro scoffs. “All well and good to find one secret entrance into a Fallen nest. Go on through and, what, kill all the bugs inside? That easy? And that one secret route ends up being your only exit, aside from the _main_ tunnels where there’ll probably be a dozen captains in the way. And it’s spring, the aquifer — which I’m guessing is your ‘secret entrance’ — is most likely flooded right now with the winter runoff melt, so good luck swimming through that. Unless you wanna wait until summer, you’re better off circling around the delta— ”

Shiro shuts his mouth.

Cayde is practically beaming. He lets go of Shiro and turns to Andal. “Ooh, you _are_ right,” he says in a stage-whisper, “He’s good.”

Andal’s crossed arms have now migrated to having his hands on his hips. No question the man’s expression must be smug. “Guy who can instigate a skirmish between two Fallen Houses and wait until the dust settles just to get his hands on a leftover Walker? Shoot, I’d want him on my fireteam, too.”

Shiro scowls.

Cayde grins. “Don’t tell me you _also_ had your eye on that Devils’ nest. Well, well, well! What are the _odds_.”

“Saw you scouting around the area for the past month,” Andal says by way of explanation, since Shiro isn’t in the habit of acousting other Hunters and telling them about his future grab-and-runs. “Thought it might be cool if we all teamed up.”

Cayde finally leaps off the Walker to stand next to Andal, though he doesn’t take his eyes off Shiro. “You seem like the type of guy who likes to plan. And we’re the type of guys who like to execute a good plan.”

Andal gives him a playful nudge with an elbow. “When we have one.”

“Thought we were gonna keep quiet about that,” Cayde mutters, but it sounds like he’s only responding to the joke.

At least, Shiro hopes he is.

“So how about it, Shiro? You do your behind-the-scenes thing, sit back, and let us do all the leg work. We’ll split the loot three ways equal; weapons, tech, glimmer, fame. … And good boy Vanguard points.”

Unfortunately, now that there’s some evidence that he isn’t dealing with a pair of overzealous Hunters, working with a fireteam does have its appeal. And Shiro knows a good deal when he sees one. He frowns, thinking of any last minute regrets, and comes up short.

He wants that Devils’ nest, and everything that’s inside.

“Fine,” Shiro says, “Except for one thing.”

“What’s that?” Andal asks.

Shiro isn’t in the habit of showing off, but he wants to make a point. Get their jaws to drop and their eyes wide, so to speak. Shiro waves his Ghost into view, and lets it transmat his collection.

Anyone can scavenge lost parts and tech and weapons. That’s easy stuff. The pile lands at their feet, and it’s all yards and yards of cloth — House banners and flags and a patchwork of Fallen insignia capes from every rank.

“You guys miscalculated,” Shiro says, over Cayde’s whistle and Andal’s quiet laugh of disbelief. He hops down to join them. “I _don’t_ sit back.”

* * *

They use Shiro’s back-up plan. Plan C, as he had labeled it. It involves stealing a skiff to fly their way out of the Fallen nest through the main entrance.

Cayde’s whooping from the backseat as if he’s having the best day of his life. Shiro’s driving, and Andal’s sitting shotgun. They are getting _blasted_ with enemy fire.

“Why wasn’t _this_ part of the original plan?” Cayde shouts. He’s got a window open, wrecking the pressure levels of the cockpit, but everyone’s got a helmet on so Shiro doesn’t waste the mental capacities to complain.

“Because I thought we wouldn’t need to, since we were supposed to kill _all_ the Fallen.”

“Yeah, but this… this is way cooler!”

Andal’s laughter roars, all vibrance and energy, with none of the quietness Shiro had seen before. Cayde’s open window lets him aim his sniper rife and fire through it. From the corner of his eye, Shiro sees one of the enemy’s anti-aircraft guns burst into flame.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to get my hands on this skiff’s stealth tech,” Cayde says, gleeful like he’d take the skiff apart right now if they weren;’t currently using it to escape.

“Bad news,” Shiro reports, “In Plan C, we don’t get to keep the skiff.”

“Ooh, the blastgates,” Andal sighs in realization. He fires off another sniper round. “We couldn’t hack them open.”

“Aw, we’re gonna ditch the skiff? Bummer.”

Shiro scoffs before standing up. There’s no use doing any fancy flying now. All’s there left to do is to fly straight, and the autopilot can take care of that. “You wanna hop off and open the blastgate for me then?”

“Point taken,” Cayde says, glancing at him. “So, just curious… how big will the explosion be, crashing this skiff through the gate?”

“Big.” Shiro unloads all his rockets and explosives onto the floor. Their manic energy must be rubbing off on him, but maybe he’s always been this way. He’s just never let himself get to a Plan C before. “But it could always be bigger.”

Cayde grins, and donates all his grenades to this cause. There are a lot of grenades. “Wish I had more, but I left my heavy demolitions further back inside.”

Shiro blinks. “You didn’t.”

“I didn’t _what?_ Leave a breadcrumb trail of explosives waiting to detonate by a massive explosion at the entrance? Hey, hey, Shiro. Have some faith, bud. I do pay attention to your back up plans, yeah?”

Shiro goes silent. He doesn't know why he's so stunned. Then, he starts laughing so hard Andal has to hit the eject button for him and push him. He goes tumbling out the hatchway to hit the ground running as their stolen skiff zooms straight into the blastdoors.

All three of them barely make it out in time with their sparrows, and even then a forcewave hits them so hard Shiro goes flipping through the air enough times to warrant a resurrection. Or maybe it’d been a concussion.

Either way, Andal and Cayde drag him off, just as the fire behind them starts to bloom.

Shiro swears the explosion shakes the _stars_.

* * *

Shiro staggers off Cayde’s ship, more thankful than he cares to admit to be back in the Tower’s hangar. His cloak’s a burnt mess, and even his chassis feels charred. Still, he’s got enough strength left in him to not fall over when Cayde wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“Let’s trade,” Cayde starts to say, “Since you keep sayin’ you got no use for fame, how ‘bout I give you my cut of glimmer for it?”

It sounds like a trick. No way Shiro’s tired enough to fall for it. “Three thousand glimmer for your idea of ‘_fame’_? Bray’s drilled some loose screws in your skull.”

Andal grins. “Like you wouldn’t believe, Shiro.”

“Could be, could be,” Cayde says, punching Andal’s arm. “But hear me out; so when we go out for celebratory drinks at the bar, I get to regale our daring exploits, how we all stole a whole skiff, and how Andal swept in with a triple headshot through three vandals — _blam_ — and me with my blazing gun with the final shot onto that six meter Baron —_ pow! _— and how our newest guy Shiro — that’s you, bud — got to sit back and watch the show. And oh! He was so impressed he practically _begged_ us to join our fireteam.” Cayde claps his hands together and gives Shiro a sly wink. “You know. _Fame_.”

Shiro stares, then pushes him off as Andal snickers.

“Keep your glimmer,” he says, heading to the nearest Vault terminal to get himself that extra space, “I’ll meet you guys at the bar.”


End file.
